Major League Soccer: Football's Cousin and a Great Way to Spend a Night!

This weekend I got to go to my first full Columbus Crew game. Boy, have I been missing out and I think we as a country have been missing out (minus those who attend on a regular basis).

I know Major League Soccer will never be as popular as football, baseball, basketball, or even hockey but I think it deserves more fans and more credit then it receives right now.All of the nay Sayer's that say Soccer is boring and not a real sport need to take a minute and re-evaluate what they consider boring (have you seen baseball lately?) Also yes Soccer can be boring if you're watching it at home, but again look at the other sports on tv (how exciting was the nail-biting 6-3 blizzard bowl between Cleveland and buffalo a few years back). Also if that's your argument GET OUT OF THE HOUSE AND GET TO THE GAME!!

I am not here to say we should be rooting for one sport over the other, but isn't there enough room in our hearts and schedules for maybe one more sport? ( I know most of you who read this are in Northeast Ohio but maybe you should come down, see a Crew game and make a weekend out of it).

I think if we break it down you'd be surprised how similar the crew game was to a Browns game. Let's go down the check list and maybe when it's all said and done I'll see you at the nordecke (their dawg pound).

First things first, let's start before the game. with my crew colors nice and clean (black and yellow - I know not the best choice but let's not get into that) and my mind set for some soccer (thanks to the movie "green street hooligans") me and my crew (get it?) arrived a few hours early to make sure we were nice and pumped up before walking into the stadium. The parking lots were packed with Crew fans and families and all the normal tailgaiting activities. You had cookouts and cornhole, and even a few goals set up for fans to practice their skills. They even had a DJ cranking out some pretty solid tunes and games for the kids.

Next we made our way to the stadium and to the concessions stands of course. Right away I could see exaclty where I wanted to be. The Nordecke was rocking before even the National Anthem and didn't stop well after the final whistle. The Nordecke even stayed after the game, cheering, singing, and congratulating the Crew as they made their way to the stands to show their appreciation. Now as a die hard Browns fan I would never try and say anyone can even compete with our fans (especially from another sport) but man were they close. They had everything you would want from your fan section and even a few things I think we could use in the dawg pound (how awesome would it be to see flags waving back and forth as an opponent tries a field goal after a amazing defensive stand or the bone lady and big dawg chanting "Seven nation army" before a kickoff)

Finally with the Crew up 2-1, the ref blew the final whistle and the crowd erupted for one last time as the crew kept their first place spot and my night was a success. As the crowd disapated the nordecke was left behind for an impromptu meet & greet with some players and even one lucky fan left the stadium with a one of a kind souvineer (how awesome would it be to have cribbs or haden or any browns player toss his jersey to a lucky fan Joe Greene style just for showing up).

Maybe soccer will never be as popular as other sports but hopefully after reading this you will see we wouldn't be so out of place at a game and there are even a few things other sports could use from Soccer.

Lets Go Crew!!